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Any bass players around here?

Sat Sep 07, 2013 10:50 pm

Anyone trying to master the fundamentals of this cool instrument?Or are you a Flea or Jerry Scheff yourself?

I'm working on it but need some motivation as it's hard to combine with daily routine.I have a small repetoire but no 'Elvis' at this point.

Time to work on it!

Re: Any bass players around here?

Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:47 pm

I know this is late to be replying but...I play bass guitar (as well as other musical instruments). I don't consider myself to be a player like Scheff (as far as soloing goes) but I can play the entire Presley catalogue of music in my own way.

I say "in my own way" because I learned to play all of the instruments that I do play by ear. No formal lessons. The only lessons I guess I informally got were my Stepfather & Aunt showing me chords on the guitar & piano, respectively, and I took it from there.

Re: Any bass players around here?

Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:39 pm

Robert wrote:Anyone trying to master the fundamentals of this cool instrument?Or are you a Flea or Jerry Scheff yourself?

I'm working on it but need some motivation as it's hard to combine with daily routine.I have a small repetoire but no 'Elvis' at this point.

Time to work on it!

Both Flea and Jerry are great Bass players, but the secret to learning any instrument is NOT to try and emulate the greats. It is vitally important that you learn about chord structure and why certain notes are played with other notes, keeping a song in key.

I have been playing guitar for over 30 yrs not and I will never be as good as Hendrix,Beck etc but that's ok. I am good enough to be able to play most any song I want to, but you have to start with the basics.

As I have always said, its not about how much you know about the guitar but what you do with what you know.

Re: Any bass players around here?

Tue Dec 31, 2013 8:05 pm

memfisking wrote:

Robert wrote:Anyone trying to master the fundamentals of this cool instrument?Or are you a Flea or Jerry Scheff yourself?

I'm working on it but need some motivation as it's hard to combine with daily routine.I have a small repetoire but no 'Elvis' at this point.

Time to work on it!

Both Flea and Jerry are great Bass players, but the secret to learning any instrument is NOT to try and emulate the greats. It is vitally important that you learn about chord structure and why certain notes are played with other notes, keeping a song in key.

I have been playing guitar for over 30 yrs not and I will never be as good as Hendrix,Beck etc but that's ok. I am good enough to be able to play most any song I want to, but you have to start with the basics.

As I have always said, its not about how much you know about the guitar but what you do with what you know.

Also, the legendary James Burton said this about playing guitar: "It's not how much you play, but, sometimes how little you play that counts." And he's right. Alot of guitarists just wail on their guitars without giving the singer any "room" for the vocals in a song. If you're a sideman or studio musician, it's your job to make the singer stand out - not the other way around. Actually, as far as emulating someone's guitar playing, that's where alot of guitarists of today - and I'm thinking in the country genre - got where they are today. Every guitarist, no matter who you are, always "steals" licks from their favorite players. I do it often!

Re: Any bass players around here?

Wed Jan 08, 2014 3:27 am

Thanks Tony & Memphisking!Totally agree with your comments and Tony, interesting you learned things by ear.I'm doing ok in learning songs via bass tabs but playing along with songs outside my repetoir is still a no go.

Definately need to learn some basic patterns I guess.

Re: Any bass players around here?

Thu Feb 27, 2014 7:31 am

God seems like years since i posted on this forum....Yea i play bass- 4 and 5 string but prefer 4 asi started on 4.....5 goes a bit too low for my liking and is more of an "as and when needed" kind of instrument imho....started playing bass when i was fifteen, played professionally in various cabaret/rock/country/pop, and even reggae bands lol until i was 42..sliced my finger and havent played for 4 years, but just had an op on it and looks like i'll be back to playing live again...asap..lol.